Review: Fujifilm FinePix XP30

Thrill seekers who want to take their camera kit along on adventures have a spate of products to choose from these days.

Fujifilm's FinePix XP30 is one such specimen. It's rugged, water-resistant, and has GPS onboard. But just as adrenaline-junkies often sport fractures, scars, or the occasional missing tooth, the camera buys toughness at the expense of good looks. Its pictures could crack a mirror and its audio might burst an eardrum.

And let's get this out of the way immediately: I tried to like it. I really did. A waterproof, crash-proof, dust-proof, freeze-proof GPS camera is so cool on the face of it that I wasn't going to kick it out of bed for farting a couple of times. But flaw after flaw just kept piling up, and I decided to sleep on the couch. And the dumb thing didn't even know what it did wrong.

So I will take you through the process of falling in and out of love with this unfortunate klutz of a camera.

I first came across the XP30 on the PR wire, but it could have been a Craigslist personals ad: 14-megapixel camera with 2.7-inch, anti-reflective display seeks adventure-lovers. Waterproof to 16.5 feet; I love to swim, and with my built-in GPS, we'll always know where we are — and where we have been.

Its profile picture was equally intriguing. The metallic green case glittered like a scarab in the sun — it's also available in black, blue, silver, and orange — and its offset lens and oblong shape made it look like Domo kun wearing a monocle. It's the same sort of ugly-cute that a Scion XB or Nissan Cube has.

And then it arrived! The camera is cleverly and efficiently packaged in box scarcely larger than its contents: the camera, lanyard, USB cable, battery, a thin sheaf of papers, and a CD-R. I couldn't wait to free it from its cardboard prison and run away to the beach with it.

That's where the good memories end. No... there were still good things. I'll always have the good things, though I feel so betrayed now.

It is waterproof. Neither pool nor dishpan nor baby's mouth could get past the camera's rubber seals and self-contained 5x lens. The camera seemed to actually like the water; it'll shoot videos or stills, and the camera has two different underwater settings. Though I did not bang it around too much, the solid-feeling construction assures you that it can stand up to minor concussions.

The GPS is a cool feature, though this is where the camera's facade begins to crack. GPS data is included in the photos' metadata, so you can pin your photos to a map using Google Maps or similar software. The GPS was pretty accurate, and the included software lets you map out your shots through a Google Maps plugin (though if you're all "geo-cachey," you probably already have a preferred method). But the GPS was reluctant to lock in on its satellites, even in a flat, open field on a cloudless day. The average lock-in time was about 15 minutes — if it locked in at all.

The slowness of the GPS is just one of a variety of slows the camera possesses. It takes its time turning on, it's slow to focus, it rests an inordinately long time between shots. It even drags its feet when you are scrolling through shots, zooming into a photo, or deleting photos, the last of which is accompanied by an annoying dissolve graphic.

The XP30 occasionally took some really good-looking photos, especially outdoors in good light. At its default, the device uses a "Scene Recognition" mode, which is meant to dynamically change the camera's settings based on shooting conditions. In practice, though, the camera's algorithm dynamically misjudged shooting conditions, producing, blurry, off-color shots.

Video was no better. It's not that the 1280 x 720 video is so bad, but the sound is insufferable. Even in a quiet room there are clicks and pops that emanate seemingly from nowhere, and what sound it does capture is shrill and tinny. And should you zoom during filming, you're treated to a grinding sound reminiscent of a faulty can-opener. On the plus side, if you restrict your filming to underwater, you can pass off these sounds as hermit crabs and passing boats.

It was with the video performance that I knew I had to end the relationship. I couldn't let it go on; it was just too painful. I loved this camera as soon as I laid eyes on it — and until I laid my hands on it.

WIRED Waterproof, shock-proof, and dust-proof, the XP30 is equally at home in Aruba or Fallujah. Included GPS lets you plot out your pictures on a map. It's relatively inexpensive.

TIRED Default "Scene Recognition" mode exhibits all the good judgment of a drunken sailor. Just about everything from focusing to deleting pictures locking in on GPS satellites was painstakingly slow. Videos were ruined by their audio, which included cracks and pops, tinny treble, and a grinding zoom servomotor that sounded like a light aircraft. Battery life is weak, and GPS drains it even more.

Photo by Roger Hibbert/Wired

See Also:- Hot Fujifilm X100 Gets U.S Price, Full Specs

• Rugged Camera Gear for High-Octane Adrenaline Junkies
• Photos: Leica M3 and Fujifilm X100 Side-By-Side
• Pentax Launches Everything-Proof Rugged Cam
• What You Need to Know When Buying a Digital Camera